Evaluation of Serum Adipokines in Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease

Aim. Out study aimed to assess the serum levels of adipokines in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) caused by atherosclerosis. Methods. Serum samples were obtained from 221 patients. One hundred and forty patients, (26 females and 114 males) met the inclusion criteria and were assigned into the case group. Eighty one patients (17 females and 64 males), were included in the control group. Circulating plasma levels of adiponectin, leptin, resistin, and TNF-α were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results. Significant lower levels of adiponectin were present (P = 0.0061) in PAOD patients (2380.23 ± 1634.42 pg/mL) compared to the control group (3065.06 ± 1901.2 pg/mL). The mean value of leptin (2844.42 ± 3301.08 pg/mL) and resistin (2047.81±3301.08 pg/mL) patients included in the PAOD group was higher, as compared to the control group. Statistically significant difference was found between the two groups for leptin (P = 0.0332) and for resistin (P = 0.0352). No statistically significant difference for TNF-α was found between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. The markers of inflammation secreted by the adipose tissue (adiponectin, leptin, resistin) showed significant differences in patients from the case group (with PAOD) compared to the control group

Clinical Study Evaluation of Serum Adipokines in Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease

Aim. Out study aimed to assess the serum levels of adipokines in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) caused by atherosclerosis. Methods. Serum samples were obtained from 221 patients. One hundred and forty patients, (26 females and 114 males) met the inclusion criteria and were assigned into the case group. Eighty one patients (17 females and 64 males), were included in the control group. Circulating plasma levels of adiponectin, leptin, resistin, and TNF-α were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results. Significant lower levels of adiponectin were present (P = 0.0061) in PAOD patients (2380.23 ± 1634.42 pg/mL) compared to the control group (3065.06 ± 1901.2 pg/mL). The mean value of leptin (2844.42 ± 3301.08 pg/mL) and resistin (2047.81±3301.08 pg/mL) patients included in the PAOD group was higher, as compared to the control group. Statistically significant difference was found between the two groups for leptin (P = 0.0332) and for resistin (P = 0.0352). No statistically significant difference for TNF-α was found between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. The markers of inflammation secreted by the adipose tissue (adiponectin, leptin, resistin) showed significant differences in patients from the case group (with PAOD) compared to the control group

XUV Frequency Combs via Femtosecond Enhancement Cavities

We review the current state of tabletop extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sources based on high harmonic generation (HHG) in femtosecond enhancement cavities (fsEC). Recent developments have enabled generation of high photon flux (1014 photons/sec) in the XUV, at high repetition rates (>50 MHz) and spanning the spectral region from 40 nm - 120 nm. This level of performance has enabled precision spectroscopy with XUV frequency combs and promises further applications in XUV spectroscopic and photoemission studies. We discuss the theory of operation and experimental details of the fsEC and XUV generation based on HHG, including current technical challenges to increasing the photon flux and maximum photon energy produced by this type of system. Current and future applications for these sources are also discussed.Comment: invited review article, 38 page

Implementing an integrated standards-based management system to ensure compliance at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Laboratory) is developing and implementing a comprehensive, Integrated Standards-Based Management System (ISBMS) to enhance environmental, safety, and health (ESH) compliance efforts and streamline management of ESH throughout the Laboratory. The Laboratory recognizes that to be competitive in today`s business environment and attractive to potential Partnerships, Laboratory operations must be efficient and cost-effective. The Laboratory also realizes potential growth opportunities for developing ESH as a strength in providing new or improved services to its customers. Overall, the Laboratory desires to establish and build upon an ESH management system which ensures continuous improvement in protecting public health and safety and the environment and which fosters a working relationship with stakeholders. A team of process experts from the LANL Environmental Management (EM) Program Office, worked with management system consultants, and the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop an ESH management systems process to compare current LANL ESH management Systems and programs against leading industry standards. The process enabled the Laboratory to gauge its performance in each of the following areas: Planning and Policy Setting; Systems and Procedures; Implementation and Education; and Monitoring and Reporting. The information gathered on ESH management systems enabled LANL to pinpoint and prioritize opportunities for improvement in the provision of ESH services throughout the Laboratory and ultimately overall ESH compliance

Diagnostic obtions of nonepileptic paroxysmes in children

Cursul Neuropediatrie USMF „Nicolae Testemiţanu”A host of paroxysmal conditions can simulate epileptic seizures in children. Indeed, the overdsagnosis of epilepsy is all common in splоe of the disastrous effect of the wrongly attributed label of epilepsy on children's life. Probabiy 30% of patients sent to specialized epilepsy clinic with a diagnosis of possible epilepsy are found to suffer from other, mostly benign conditions. The most common of these include sincopa, faints, episodes of breath-hoiding spelis, pseudoepileptic seizures, benign infantile myoclonus, migraine and periodic syndromes, paroxysmal disturbances occuring during sleep. A correct understanding of clinical history, of an objective examination of the EEG, addapted to each separate case, constitues differential steps of diagnosis in epilepsy of other non-epileptic paroxismes. Există o multitudine de afecţiuni paroxistice ce pot simula convulsiile la copil. Din nefericire, diagnosticul de epilepsre este supradimensionat, în ciuda efectelor dezastruoase ale unor etichete incorecte de epilepsie asupra psihicului copilului. Sub 30% din pacienţii trimişi în serviciile de neuropediatrie cu diagnosticul de posibilă epilepsie se constată apoi că suferă de alte boli, în general benigne. Cele mai comune dintre aceste boli includ: sincopa, leşinul/presincopa, spasmul hohotului de plâns, anomaliile somnului. Interpretarea corectă a istoricului clinic, examenului obiectiv, EEG-ului, adaptate fiecărui caz în parte, constituie treptele de diagnostic diferenţial al epilepsiei de alte paroxisme nonepileptice

Parasitic fauna in farmed trouts in Tismana, Romania

Epidemiological study of the general prevalence of parasites in trouts in the two farms from have revealed various aspects depending on the species studied, depending on season, age category (size) but also from a farm to another

Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks and tissues collected from wild birds in Romania

Abstract. Anaplasma phagocytophilum are potentially emerging tick-borne pathogen, whereas many issues about ecology, reservoir host specificity, are still unclear. The material analyzed in this study was collected along 5 years (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) of fieldwork from 88 locations, from 32 out of 42 counties of Romania. A total of 3,794 birds belonging to 125 species were assessed, made up by 879 carcasses and 2,915 alive birds. A total of 278 birds belonging to 37 species were found infested with ticks (9.53%), with individual prevalence ranging from 0 to 50%. Anaplasma spp. were detected in 8 cases (1.7%) of 459 analyzed ticks collected from two specimens of Rook one Robin, one Blackbird and one Chaffinch. The ticks found to carry Anaplasma spp., were Haemaphysalis concinna (1 larvae), I. arboricola (4 larvae), and I. ricinus (2 larvae and 2 nymphs). Tissue samples resulted in the detection of Anaplasma spp. from heart of one Robin and one Song Thrush, with a relative prevalence of 1.66%. The low prevalence of A. phagocytophilum in bird-fed ticks corresponds to previous investigations, suggesting that birds have a reduced reservoir competence for human granulocytic anaplasmosis agents

Combined exome and whole-genome sequencing identifies mutations in ARMC4 as a cause of primary ciliary dyskinesia with defects in the outer dynein arm

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, genetically heterogeneous ciliopathy disorder affecting cilia and sperm motility. A range of ultrastructural defects of the axoneme underlie the disease, which is characterised by chronic respiratory symptoms and obstructive lung disease, infertility and body axis laterality defects. We applied a next-generation sequencing approach to identify the gene responsible for this phenotype in two consanguineous families

A calibration method for broad-bandwidth cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy performed with supercontinuum radiation

An efficient calibration method has been developed for broad-bandwidth cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. The calibration is performed using phase shift cavity ring-down spectroscopy, which is conveniently implemented through use of an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). The AOTF permits a narrowband portion of the SC spectrum to be scanned over the full high-reflectivity bandwidth of the cavity mirrors. After calibration the AOTF is switched off and broad-bandwidth CEAS can be performed with the same light source without any loss of alignment to the set-up. We demonstrate the merits of the method by probing transitions of oxygen molecules O-2 and collisional pairs of oxygen molecules (O-2)(2) in the visible spectral range

Structure functions for the three nucleon system

The spectral functions and light-cone momentum distributions of protons and neutrons in 3He and 3H are given in terms of the three-nucleon wave function for realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions. To reduce computational complexity, separable expansions are employed for the nucleon-nucleon potentials. The results for the light-cone momentum distributions suggest that they are not very sensitive to the details of the two-body interaction, as long as it has reasonable short-range repulsion. The unpolarised and polarised structure functions are examined for both 3He and 3H in order to test the usefulness of 3He as a neutron target. It is found that the measurement of the spin structure function of polarised 3H would provide a very clear test of the predicted change in the polarised parton distributions of a bound proton.Comment: 30 pages, REVTeX, 11 figure